Al-Zawahiri named al-Qaeda chief

Cairo, Jun 16 (PTI) Ayman al-Zawahiri, the Egyptian
surgeon-turned-jihadist ideologue, was on Thursday named the
new chief of al-Qaeda to succeed its slain leader Osama bin
Laden, with the militant group pledging to "relentlessly
pursue" its "jihad" against its arch-enemies, the US and
Israel.
Al-Zawahiri, 59, one of the founders of al-Qaeda, has
played a defining role in the militant group for more than a
decade as bin Laden's deputy. Even before the announcement, he
had been widely regarded as the organisation's de facto leader
and public face.
The announcement, dated June 2011 but which surfaced
on Thursday on the jihadist sites, said the decision to
appoint al-Zawahiri, who is carrying a USD 25 million reward
on his head, was made to pay respect to the "righteous
martyrs" and to honour the legacy of bin Laden.
"Hereby the General Command of the Qaeda al-Jihad --
and after the end of the consultations -- we declare that
Sheikh Dr Abu Muhammad Ayman al-Zawahiri (May God bless him)
will take over the responsibility of command of the group,"
CNN quoted the statement as saying.
The statement said that under Zawahiri's leadership
al-Qaeda would relentlessly pursue its "jihad" (holy war)
against the United States and Israel.
"We seek with the aid of God to call for the religion
of truth and incite our nation to fight ... by carrying out
jihad against the apostate invaders ... with their head being
crusader America and its servant Israel, and whoever supports
them," said the statement.
The fight would continue "until all invading armies
leave the land of Islam".
The extremist network affirmed that it would not
"recognise any legitimacy of the so-called state of Israel."
"We will not accept or adhere to any agreement or
accord that recognises it (Israel) or that robs a mile from
Palestine, whether it is the United Nations controlled by top
criminals or any other organisation".
Al-Zawahiri is believed to run al-Qaeda operations
from the Pakistan-Afghanistan border region.
Al-Zawahiri had issued a eulogy for bin Laden last
week saying al-Qaeda's leader had terrified the US when he was
alive and would continue to do so in death.
He appeared in a white Arab robe and turban, a
Kalashnikov at his side, in the 28-minute video posted on
jihadist online forum.
"We will pursue the jihad until we expel the invaders
from Muslim lands," he had said.
Bin Laden was killed in a US raid on his compound in
Abbottabad near Islamabad on May 2.
The statement also said the group will not shift its
policy and pledged its support to, among others, Taliban chief
Mullah Omar.
Al-Qaeda also voiced its "support (to) the uprisings
of our oppressed Muslim people against the corrupt and tyrant
leaders who have made our nation suffer in Egypt, Tunisia,
Libya, Yemen, Syria and Morocco."
The Middle East and North Africa have witnessed a
series of revolts since December that have succeeded in
toppling autocratic rulers in Egypt and Tunisia. Libya's
Muammar Gaddafi and Syria's Bashar al-Assad are also still
battling popular uprisings in their countries.
Al-Qaeda urged those involved in the uprisings to
continue their "struggle until the fall of all corrupt regimes
that the West has forced onto our countries."

Al-Zawahiri, the second and last "emir" of the
Egyptian Islamic Jihad, an affiliate of al-Qaeda, was wanted
in the US even before the 2001 attacks targeting New York's
World Trade Centre and the Pentagon, which killed over 3,000.
He was indicted in absentia in 1999 for the August
1998 bombings of US embassies in Tanzania and Kenya that
killed 224 people, and was also considered the mastermind of
the October 2000 bombing of the USS Cole in Yemen, which
killed 17 sailors.
Born in a wealthy family in Cairo, al-Zawahiri is a
physician and founding member of the Egyptian Islamic Jihad
(EIJ), a militant group that opposed the then secular Egyptian
government of Hosni Mubarak and sought its overthrow through
violent means.
Like bin Laden, al-Zawahiri also went to Afghanistan
during their fight against the Soviets, although he was there
primarily to offer his medical expertise.
By the 1990s, he refocused his attention on undermining
and attacking the Egyptian government and, eventually, the US.